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Photo of a kea by Mark Whatmough - Milford Sound, Key Summit, The Divide, Queenstown, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons Most of us have heard the phrase: Laughter is contagious. When we hear other people laughing, we often smile even if we have no idea why they are laughing. Dr. Sophie Scott from the University College of London and her colleagues played both positive sounds (like laughter) and negative sounds (like retching or screaming) to subjects and found the sounds activated the premotor cortical region of the brain. This area of the brain is responsible for preparing facial muscles…

The party continues! Today you get a double-dose of Monday Pets. Here's one from the archives. Later today, you can expect a new one. I often write about animals that the average person does not interact with all that much on a day-to-day basis. Today, I introduce something I like to call "Monday Pets". The focus of Monday Pets will be the animals that we intentionally bring into our lives as pets. Sometimes those animals are even considered part of the family. Ever notice some weird behavior that you notice your pets doing? Want to know more about it? Email me. Always wanted to know if your…

Spent the day at the Brookfield Zoo and was lucky enough to catch a resident polar bear inventing games for himself and doubly lucky my fiancee brought a video cam. Polar Bear Takes a Dive Polar Bear Tossing Around His Toy More below the fold Polar Bear Balances Toy on Nose and Paw

tags: behavior, environmental enrichment, giant Pacific octopus, Octopus dofleini, cephalopod, animal intelligence Louis, the giant pacific octopus, Octopus dofleini, cuddles his Mr Potato Head. The 1.8meter-wide (6 foot) animal is so attached to Mr Potato Head that he becomes aggressive when aquarium staff try to remove it from his tank. Image: Apex. Who would have thought that Mr Potato Head would turn out to be such a charmer? Certainly not I, but this morning, I unexpectedly ran across a news story about a giant Pacific octopus, Octopus dofleini, that lives in an aquarium in the UK.…